Electrode structure of piezoelectric element, method of forming electrode of piezoelectric element, piezoelectric actuator, and head suspension

ABSTRACT

An electrode structure of a piezoelectric element is provided. The piezoelectric element  23   a  ( 23   b ) constitutes a piezoelectric actuator  19  attached to an attaching part  30  of an object, to minutely move a movable part  15  of the object relative to a base part  13  of the object according to deformation occurring on the piezoelectric element in response to a power applied state of the piezoelectric element. The electrode structure in response an electrode  41   a  formed on one of a pair of electrode forming faces  31   a  and  31   b  of the piezoelectric element on an inner side of a peripheral zone  31   a   1 , the peripheral zone being defined along the periphery of the electrode forming face  31   a  on which the electrode is formed. The electrode structure also includes a non-electrode part  51  formed in the peripheral zone. Even if the peripheral zone  31   a   1  of the electrode forming face  31   a  having a short-circuit causing possibility touches the attaching part 30, no short circuit occurs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a head suspension of a disk drive incorporated in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, and particularly, to an electrode structure of a piezoelectric element used for the head suspension and a method of forming an electrode of the piezoelectric element.

2. Description of Related Art

Small-sized, precision information devices are rapidly advancing, and for use with such devices, needs for micro-actuators capable of conducting positioning control for very small distances are increasing. Such micro-actuators are highly needed by, for example, optical systems for correcting focuses and inclination angles, ink jet printers for controlling ink heads, and magnetic disk drives for controlling magnetic heads.

To meet the needs, the applicant of the present invention has proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-50140 a head suspension for a disk drive, including a base plate, a connection plate having a hinge thinner than the base plate, a load beam provided with a flexure, and a piezoelectric actuator composed of a pair of piezoelectric elements.

This related art employs a dual actuator system that involves, for a precise positioning purpose, a voice coil motor and the piezoelectric actuator having two piezoelectric elements made of, for example, PZT (lead zirconate titanate). The piezoelectric actuator in the dual actuator system minutely moves a front end of the load beam in a widthwise direction (sway direction) of the head suspension.

Compared with a single actuator system employing only the voice coil motor, the dual actuator system employing the voice coil motor and piezoelectric actuator is capable of more precisely positioning a magnetic head attached to a front end of the head suspension.

In the head suspension employing the dual actuator system, the piezoelectric actuator is arranged in an opening formed in a piezoelectric element attaching part prepared on, for example, the base plate.

Each piezoelectric element in the piezoelectric actuator has upper and lower faces that are covered with electrodes. The electrodes of each piezoelectric element are connected to wiring through which power is supplied to the electrodes. The opening in the piezoelectric element attaching part of the head suspension has a support to support the bottom faces of the piezoelectric elements.

To effectively use a space, the piezoelectric elements are arranged in the opening close to the periphery of the opening, and therefore, the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements have a risk of contacting the attaching part. If the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements touch the attaching part, power supply to the piezoelectric elements will be hindered. To avoid this, the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements must electrically be insulated from the attaching part.

For the electric insulation, a related art employs an adhesive containing a filler made of insulative particles. The adhesive is applied so that the filler may interpose between the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements and the piezoelectric element attaching part of the head suspension.

The filler tends to unevenly disperse in the adhesive, to cause a short circuit between the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements and the attaching part at a location where the filler in the adhesive is sparse.

Such a risk of causing a short circuit between the electrodes of the piezoelectric elements and the attaching part increases when the piezoelectric elements are placed obliquely in the opening of the attaching part, or close to the edge of the opening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrode structure of a piezoelectric element, capable of preventing a short circuit between an electrode of the piezoelectric element and an attaching part to which the piezoelectric element is attached.

In order to accomplish the object, an aspect of the present invention provides an electrode structure of a piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric element constituting a piezoelectric actuator arranged on an object to minutely move a movable part of the object relative to a base part of the object according to deformation occurring on the piezoelectric element in response to a power applied state of the piezoelectric element. The electrode structure includes an electrode formed on one of a pair of electrode forming faces of the piezoelectric element on an inner side of a peripheral zone, the peripheral zone being defined along the periphery of the electrode forming face on which the electrode is formed. The electrode structure also includes a non-electrode part formed in the peripheral zone.

This aspect of the present invention causes no short circuit between the electrode of the piezoelectric element and the object even if the peripheral zone of the piezoelectric element touches the object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a head suspension employing piezoelectric elements each with an electrode structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A to 3C are views illustrating the piezoelectric element, in which FIG. 3A is a bottom view of an electrode forming face of the piezoelectric element, FIG. 3B is a front view of the piezoelectric element, and FIG. 3C is a front view of a modification of the piezoelectric element;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a method of forming an electrode of a piezoelectric element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a method of cutting a wafer with a dicing blade into piezoelectric elements according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are views illustrating the details of the wafer cutting of FIG. 5, in which FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of the dicing blade, FIG. 6B is a sectional view of a piezoelectric element with a tapered electrode on one electrode forming face, and FIG. 6C is a sectional view of a piezoelectric element with a tapered electrode on each electrode forming face;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views illustrating operations of head suspensions, in which FIG. 7A is a head suspension with the piezoelectric element of FIG. 3B and FIG. 7B is a head suspension with the piezoelectric element of FIG. 3C;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a head suspension employing a piezoelectric element electrode structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the head suspension of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views illustrating the piezoelectric element of FIG. 8, in which FIG. 10A is a top view of the piezoelectric element and FIG. 10B is a front view of the piezoelectric element; and

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating operation of the head suspension of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An electrode structure of a piezoelectric element, a method of forming an electrode of a piezoelectric element, a piezoelectric actuator, and a head suspension according to embodiments of the present invention will be explained.

First, a head suspension employing piezoelectric elements each with an electrode structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the head suspension 11 and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1.

The head suspension 11 of FIG. 1 employs the dual actuator system using a voice coil motor (not illustrated) and a piezoelectric actuator. The head suspension 11 has a base plate 13, a load beam 15, a hinge member 17, and the piezoelectric actuator 19.

The piezoelectric actuator 19 consists of a piezoelectric element 21 (first piezoelectric element 21 a and second piezoelectric element 21 b) that deforms in response to electricity applied thereto, to slightly move a front end of the load beam 15 in a sway direction, i.e., a widthwise direction of the head suspension 11.

The base plate 13 resiliency supports the load beam 15 and is made of, for example, a resilient stainless steel thin plate having a thickness of about 150 to 200 μm.

The base plate 13 has a base part 13 a, a front part 13 b, a connection part 13 c to connect the base part 13 a and front part 13 b to each other, a pair of openings 23 a and 23 b, and a circular boss 25.

The openings 23 a and 23 b are parallel to each other and are defined by the base part 13 a, front part 13 b, and connection part 13 c of the base plate 13 and function to receive the rectangular piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b, respectively. The piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b are made of, for example, PZT (lead zirconate titanate) and deform according to a power supplied state.

The base part 13 a of the base plate 13 is fixed to a front end of an actuator arm (not illustrated) that is driven by the voice coil motor (not illustrated). The connection part 13 c is formed to minutely bend in widthwise directions of the load beam 15 (sway directions indicated with arrows S in FIG. 1).

The load beam 15 is provided with a flexure 27. At a front end of the flexure 27, a magnetic head slider 29 is arranged. The load beam 15 is made of a resilient stainless steel thin plate having a thickness of about 30 to 150 μm to apply load onto the slider 29.

The flexure 27 is made of a resilient stainless thin plate that is thinner and more precise than the load beam 15. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the flexure 27 is composed of a conductive base layer 27 a, an electric insulating layer 27 b, and a conductor layer 27 c that are laid one on another from the hinge member 17. The flexure 27 is fixed to the hinge member 17 by laser spot welding.

The conductive base layer 27 a is made of a metal thin plate such as a stainless steel thin plate. The insulating layer 27 b is made of an electric insulating material such as polyimide resin. The conductor layer 27 c is made of an electric conductive material such as copper and nickel. The conductor layer 27 c is used to supply power to electrodes of the piezoelectric element 21 and transmit write and read signals to and from the magnetic head slider 29.

A rear end of the load beam 15 is fixed to the hinge member 17 by, for example, laser spot welding.

The hinge member 17 is made of a resilient stainless steel thin plate having a thickness of about 30 to 50 μm.

The hinge member 17 has a base part 17 a, a bridge 17 c, an intermediate part 17 b, a pair of left and right hinges 17 d 1 and 17 d 2, and a pair of left and right front end parts 17 e 1 and 17 e 2.

The base part 17 a of the hinge member 17 corresponds to the base part 13 a of the base plate 13, The base part 17 a is laid on and fixed to the base part 13 a. The intermediate part 17 b of the hinge member 17 corresponds to the front part 13 b of the base plate 13. The intermediate part 17 b is laid on and fixed to the front part 13 b. The bridge 17 c of the hinge member 17 corresponds to the connection part 13 c of the base plate 13. The bridge 17 c is laid on and fixed to the connection part 13 c, The hinges 17 d 1 and 17 d 2 bend in thickness directions, to reduce the bending rigidity of the load beam 15. The front end parts 17 e 1 and 17 e 2 of the hinge member 17 are fixed to the rear end of the load beam 15.

In FIG. 1, the base plate 13 and hinge member 17 are separate parts and are assembled together, to form an actuator base 30 serving as an attaching part to attach the piezoelectric element 21.

The piezoelectric actuator 19 consists of the pair of first and second piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b provided with electrodes to be explained later. The piezoelectric actuator 19 has a thickness of about 0.07 to 0.20 mm.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first piezoelectric element 21 a has a lower electrode forming face 31 a, an upper electrode forming face 31 b, end faces 33 a and 33 b, and side faces 35 a and 35 b.

Similarly, the second piezoelectric element 21 b has a lower electrode forming face 32 a, an upper electrode forming face 32 b, end faces 34 a and 34 b, and side faces 36 a and 36 b.

Among reference marks in FIG. 2, those with parentheses represent elements of the second piezoelectric element 21 b corresponding to elements of the first piezoelectric element 21 a that are represented with reference marks without parentheses. For example, “31 a (32 a)” in FIG. 2 indicates the lower electrode forming face 31 a of the first piezoelectric element 21 a and the corresponding lower electrode forming face 32 a of the second piezoelectric element 21 b.

The piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b are parallel to each other and are embedded in the openings 23 a and 23 b, respectively. Namely, the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b are accommodated in the openings 23 a and 23 b so that upper electrodes 41 b and 42 b of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b are flush with or lower than an upper face 13 d of the base plate 13.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first piezoelectric element 21 a is received in the opening 23 a at a predetermined position. In this state, the end faces 33 a and 33 b of the piezoelectric element 21 a face inner side faces 37 a and 37 b of the opening 23 a with predetermined clearances 49 between them. The side face 35 a of the piezoelectric element 21 a faces a side face of the connection part 13 c with a predetermined clearance between them.

Similarly, the second piezoelectric element 21 b is received in the opening 23 b at a predetermined position. In this state, the end faces 34 a and 34 b of the piezoelectric element 21 b face inner side faces 38 a and 38 b of the opening 23 b with predetermined clearances 49 between them. The side face 36 a of the piezoelectric element 21 b faces a side face of the connection part 13 c with a predetermined clearance between them.

The lower and upper electrode forming faces 31 a and 31 b of the first piezoelectric element 21 a are provided with lower and upper electrodes 41 a and 41 b, respectively, made of a material having a good electrical conductivity, such as gold (Au).

Similarly, the lower and upper electrode forming faces 32 a and 32 b of the second piezoelectric element 21 b are provided with lower and upper electrodes 42 a and 42 b, respectively, made of a material having a good electrical conductivity, such as gold (Au).

The electrodes 41 a, 41 b, 42 a, and 42 b are formed by vapor deposition, spattering, plating, and the like, as will be explained later.

The lower electrode 41 a (42 a) is bonded through a wire 43 to a terminal 27 c 1 formed on the conductive layer 27 e of the flexure 15. The upper electrode 41 b (42 b) is grounded through a conductive adhesive such as a silver paste 45 to the base plate 13.

A rear end 21 a 1 of the first piezoelectric element 21 a is positioned to face the base part 17 a of the hinge member 17 and a front end 21 a 2 thereof is positioned to face the intermediate part 17 b of the hinge member 17.

Similarly, a rear end 21 b 1 of the second piezoelectric element 21 b is positioned to face the base part 17 a of the hinge member 17 and a front end 21 b 2 thereof is positioned to face the intermediate part 17 b of the hinge member 17.

At front and rear ends of the openings 23 a and 23 b, there are widthwise supports 17 a 1 and 17 b 1 to support the lower electrode forming faces 31 a and 32 a of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b.

The rear end 21 a 1 of the first piezoelectric element 21 a is fixed with a nonconductive adhesive 47 to the support 17 a 1 formed at the base part 17 a of the hinge member 17. The front end 21 a 2 of the piezoelectric element 21 a is fixed with the nonconductive adhesive 47 to the support 17 b 1 formed at the intermediate part 17 b of the hinge member 17.

Similarly, the rear end 21 b 1 of the second piezoelectric element 21 b is fixed with the nonconductive adhesive 47 to the support 17 a 1 formed at the base part 17 a of the hinge member 17. The front end 21 b 2 of the piezoelectric element 21 b is fixed with the nonconductive adhesive 47 to the support 17 b 1 formed at the intermediate part 17 b of the hinge member 17.

The nonconductive adhesive 47 may be a known nonconductive adhesive (including a conductive adhesive containing insulating silica or glass filler particles).

The nonconductive adhesive 47 forms a layer of proper thickness between the lower electrode forming faces 31 a and 32 a of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b and the supports 17 a 1 and 17 b 1.

The thickness of the nonconductive adhesive layer 47 is preferably 10 μm or thicker. The insulating layer of such a thickness secures electric insulation between the lower electrodes 41 a and 42 a on the lower electrode forming faces 31 a and 32 a and the supports 17 a 1 and 17 b 1.

Each of the clearances 49 between the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b and the end faces 37 a, 37 b, 38 a, and 38 b of the openings 23 a and 23 b contains a layer of the nonconductive adhesive 47 having a proper thickness.

The nonconductive adhesive layer 47 between the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b and the end faces 37 a, 37 b, 38 a, and 38 b of the openings 23 a and 23 b surely transmits displacements of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b to the load beam 15 and secures electric insulation between the upper and lower electrodes 41 a, 41 b, 42 a, and 42 b of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b and the end faces 37 a, 37 b, 38 a, and 38 b of the openings 23 a and 23 b.

When a predetermined voltage is applied, one of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b contracts in a longitudinal direction and the other extends in a longitudinal direction, and therefore, the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b deform into a trapezoidal shape as a whole.

According to the deformation and displacement of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b, the front end of the load beam 15 moves relative to the base plate 13 in a widthwise direction (sway direction).

An electrode structure of the piezoelectric element according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are views illustrating the piezoelectric element 21 a (21 b) illustrated in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 3A is a bottom view of the electrode forming face 31 a (32 a) of the piezoelectric element, FIG. 3B is a front view of the piezoelectric element, and FIG. 3C is a front view of a modification of the piezoelectric element.

According to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3A, and 3B, the lower electrode forming face 31 a (32 a) of the piezoelectric element 21 a (21 b) includes a peripheral zone 31 a 1 (32 a 1), the lower electrode 41 a (42 a) formed on an inner side of the peripheral zone 31 a 1 (32 a 1), and a non-electrode part 51 formed in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 (32 a 1).

The upper electrode forming face 31 b (32 b) of the piezoelectric element 21 a (21 b) is entirely covered with the upper electrode 41 b (42 b).

Namely, according to the embodiment, the lower electrode forming face 31 a (32 a) has the non-electrode part 51 in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 (32 a 1) and the upper electrode forming face 31 b (32 b) has only the upper electrode 41 b (42 b) and no non-electrode part 51.

According to the embodiment, the upper electrodes 41 b and 42 b have the same potential as the actuator base (attaching part) 30 of the head suspension 11, and therefore, the upper electrode forming faces 31 b and 32 b need no measure for preventing a short circuit.

On the other hand, the lower electrode forming faces 31 a and 32 a must be protected against a short circuit. For this, the non-electrode part 51 is formed in each of the peripheral zones 31 a 1 and 32 a 1, so that no short circuit occurs even if the peripheral zones 31 a 1 and 32 a 1 of the lower electrode forming faces 31 a and 32 a having a short-circuit causing possibility touch the actuator base (attaching part) 30.

Depending on the structure of a head suspension to which the present invention is applied, the lower electrode forming face of a piezoelectric element may need no short-circuit preventive measure and the upper electrode forming face thereof needs the short-circuit preventive measure. In this case, the upper electrode forming face is provided with the non-electrode part in the peripheral zone and the lower electrode forming face is provided with no non-electrode part.

In this way, the electrode structure for a piezoelectric element according to the embodiment is applicable to the head suspension 11 of FIG. 1 that needs a short-circuit preventive measure for one of the upper and lower electrode forming faces of the piezoelectric element. This electrode structure is capable of preventing a short circuit between the electrode 41 a (42 a) of the piezoelectric element 21 a (21 b) and the actuator base (attaching part) 30.

Depending on the structure of a head suspension, the lower and upper electrode forming faces of each piezoelectric element must be provided with the short-circuit preventive measure.

This is achieved by an electrode structure according to a modification of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 3C. In FIG. 3C, a piezoelectric element 53 has a lower electrode forming face 55 a and an upper electrode forming face 55 b. The lower electrode forming face 55 a has a lower electrode 57 a and a peripheral zone 55 a 1. The lower electrode 57 a is surrounded by the peripheral zone 55 a 1 and a non-electrode part 51 is formed in the peripheral zone 55 a 1. The upper electrode forming face 55 b has an upper electrode 57 b and a peripheral zone 55 b 1. The upper electrode 57 b is surrounded by the peripheral zone 55 b 1 and a non-electrode part 51 is formed in the peripheral zone 55 b 1.

In FIG. 3C, each of the lower and upper electrodes 57 a and 57 b on the lower and upper electrode forming faces 55 a and 55 b is surrounded by the non-electrode part 51, so that no short circuit occurs even if the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1 of the lower and upper electrode forming faces 55 a and 55 b having a short-circuit causing possibility touch the actuator base (attaching part) 30 of the head suspension 11.

In this way, the piezoelectric element electrode structure according to the modification is applicable to the head suspension that needs a short-circuit preventive measure for each of the upper and lower electrode forming faces of the piezoelectric element. This electrode structure is capable of preventing a short circuit between the electrodes 57 a and 57 b of the piezoelectric element 53 and the actuator base (attaching part) 30 of the head suspension 11.

A method of forming an electrode structure of a piezoelectric element according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 4.

The method will be explained in detail in connection with forming the electrode structure of the first piezoelectric element 21 a illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

The method according to the embodiment of FIG. 4 includes forming the electrode 41 a on the electrode forming face 31 a of the piezoelectric element 21 a and forming the non-electrode part 51 in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a.

In the electrode forming process, the electrode 41 a is formed by, for example, one of vapor deposition, spattering, and plating.

In the non-electrode part forming process, the non-electrode part 51 is formed in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a according to one of three techniques 1 to 3 mentioned in FIG. 4.

The technique 1 covers the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a with a mask before forming the electrode 41 a on the electrode forming face 31 a by one of the vapor deposition, spattering, and plating. The mask forms the non-electrode part 51. The mask is formed by, for example, making a hole corresponding to the electrode 41 a in a metal thin plate such as a stainless steel thin plate.

The technique 2 first forms the electrode 41 a entirely over the electrode forming face 31 a by one of the vapor deposition, spattering, and plating, and then, etches off the electrode 41 a in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a, thereby forming the non-electrode part 51.

The technique 3 first forms the electrode 41 a entirely over the electrode forming face 31 a by one of the vapor deposition, spattering, and plating, and then, grinds off the electrode 41 a in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a with the use of, for example, a grinder or a dicing blade, thereby forming the non-electrode part 51.

The technique 3 will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6C in which FIG. 5 illustrates cutting a wafer with a dicing blade into piezoelectric elements, FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of the dicing blade. FIG. 6B is a sectional view of a piezoelectric element with an electrode on one electrode forming face being tapered, and FIG. 6C is a sectional view of a piezoelectric element with electrodes on both electrode forming faces being tapered.

In FIGS. 5 and 6A, the dicing blade 61 has a rotary disk 63, a grinding shoulder 65, and a grinding blade 67. The shoulder 65 and blade 67 are formed on an outer circumferential edge 63 a of the disk 63. The dicing blade 61 is used to cut a wafer 69 into piezoelectric elements of a predetermined shape.

The grinding shoulder 65 has oblique cutting faces 65 a and 65 b that extend sideward from the center of the disk 63. The grinding blade 67 has an outwardly extending blade part 67 a.

The dicing blade 61 is turned and is made in contact with the wafer 69, so that the blade part 67 a of the blade 67 cuts the wafer 69 into individual piezoelectric elements.

When cutting each piezoelectric element, the oblique cutting face 65 a (or 65 b) grinds the electrode 41 a on the electrode forming face 31 a, to taper the electrode 41 a. This forms the non-electrode part 51 in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a.

Instead of the dicing blade, a non-contact dicing technique such as a laser dicing technique may be employed to form the non-electrode part 51.

When the above-mentioned process is carried out on one face of the wafer 69, the electrode forming face 31 a has the non-electrode part 51 in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 and the electrode forming face 31 b has no non-electrode part 51 and is entirely covered with the electrode 41 b, as illustrated in FIGS. 3B and 6B.

When the above-mentioned process is carried out on each face of the wafer 69, the electrode forming faces 55 a and 55 b have the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1, the lower and upper electrodes 57 a and 57 b surrounded by the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1, and the non-electrode parts 51 formed in the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1, as illustrated in FIGS. 3C and 6C.

The technique 1 that forms the non-electrode part 51 by covering the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a with a mask is capable of easily forming the non-electrode part 51.

The technique 2 that forms the non-electrode part 51 by etching off the electrode 41 a in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a is capable of accurately forming the non-electrode part 51. For example, the technique 2 is appropriate for accurately forming a very narrow non-electrode part.

The technique 3 that forms the non-electrode part 51 by grinding off the electrode 41 a in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 of the electrode forming face 31 a with the use of a grinder or a dicing blade is capable of accurately forming the non-electrode part 51 even if the non-electrode part 51 is narrow. The technique 3 forms the non-electrode parts when cutting a wafer into piezoelectric elements. Namely, the technique 3 needs no separate processes to form the non-electrode parts, and therefore, contributes to simplify the manufacturing of piezoelectric elements.

Operation of the head suspension 11 (FIG. 1) employing the piezoelectric element electrode structure according to the above-mentioned embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 7A illustrates operation of the head suspension 11 employing the piezoelectric element electrode structure according to the embodiment of FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIG. 7B illustrates operation of the head suspension 11 employing the piezoelectric element electrode structure according to the modification of FIG. 3C.

In FIG. 7A, the piezoelectric element 21 a has the non-electrode part 51 in the peripheral zone 31 a 1 on the lower electrode forming face 31 a.

If the piezoelectric element 21 a (or 21 b) is obliquely attached as illustrated in FIG. 7A, an outer circumferential edge of the piezoelectric element 21 a may come into contact with the support 17 a 1. Even if this happens, the non-electrode part 51 surrounding the electrode 41 a prevents a short circuit between the electrode 41 a and the attaching part 30 of the head suspension 11.

In this way, this embodiment prevents a short circuit between the electrodes 41 a and 42 a of the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b and the attaching part 30 of the head suspension 11 when and after attaching the piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b to the actuator base (attaching part) 30 of the head suspension 11.

In FIG. 7B, the piezoelectric element 53 of the modification illustrated in FIG. 3C has the non-electrode part 51 in each of the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1 on the lower and upper electrode forming faces 55 a and 55 b.

Even if the piezoelectric element 53 is obliquely arranged close to the inner side face 37 a of the opening 23 a so that an outer circumferential edge of the piezoelectric element 53 comes in contact with the support 17 a 1 and inner side face 37 a as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the non-electrode parts 51 in the peripheral zones 55 a 1 and 55 b 1 surrounding the electrodes 57 a and 57 b prevent a short circuit between the electrodes 57 a and 57 b of the piezoelectric element 53 and the attaching part (including the opening 23 a and support 17 a 1) of the head suspension.

In this way, the modification prevents a short circuit between the electrodes 57 a and 57 b of the piezoelectric element 53 and the attaching part 30 of the head suspension 11 when and after attaching the piezoelectric element 53 to the attaching part (actuator base) 30.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment and modification, the piezoelectric elements are embedded in the actuator base (attaching part) 30 of the head suspension.

This configuration allows each piezoelectric element to easily be positioned with respect to the attaching part, prevents the piezoelectric element from being damaged, and effectively protect the piezoelectric element that is brittle.

A head suspension employing a piezoelectric element electrode structure according to another embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10B in which FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the head suspension, FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the head suspension, FIG. 10A is a top view of the piezoelectric element, and FIG. 10B is a front view of the piezoelectric element.

The head suspension 81 of FIG. 8 is basically the same as the head suspension 11 of FIG. 1 except the piezoelectric actuator and the peripheral structure thereof, and therefore, the same parts are represented with the same reference marks to avoid repetitive explanations.

The head suspension 11 of FIG. 1 has the piezoelectric actuator 19 consisting of two piezoelectric elements 21 a and 21 b.

The head suspension 81 of FIG. 8 has a piezoelectric actuator 85 consisting of a single piezoelectric element 83. This is an essential difference of the head suspension 81 from the head suspension 11.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, the head suspension 81 has a base plate 84 and an actuator base 86 fixed to a front end of the base plate 84. The actuator base 86 has a flexible connection parts 87 a and 87 b and an opening 88 to accommodate the piezoelectric element 83.

Each of the flexible connection parts 87 a and 87 b is outwardly curved into a U-shape at a position corresponding to a side face of the piezoelectric element 83. The flexible connection parts 87 a and 87 b contribute to increase the rigidity of the actuator base 86 serving as an attaching part of the piezoelectric element 83 and smoothly carry out a deforming or swaying operation of the piezoelectric element 83.

The piezoelectric element 83 is embedded in the opening 88 of the actuator base (attaching part) 86. A front end and rear end of an inner circumferential edge of the opening 88 are partially etched, to form supports 89 a and 89 b that inwardly protrude to widthwise support a lower electrode forming face 91 a of the piezoelectric element 83.

In FIGS. 10A and 10B, the piezoelectric element 83 of the piezoelectric actuator 85 has the lower electrode forming face 91 a on which a lower electrode 93 a is formed and an upper electrode forming face 91 b on which a pair of upper electrodes 93 b 1 and 93 b 2 are formed in parallel with each other.

On the lower electrode forming face 91 a, the lower electrode 93 a is surrounded by a peripheral zone 91 a 1 in which a non-electrode part 51 is formed.

On the upper electrode forming face 91 b, the upper electrodes 93 b 1 and 93 b 2 are spaced from each other by a slit 95 and are surrounded by a peripheral zone 91 b 1 in which a non-electrode part 51 is formed.

The piezoelectric actuator 85 is manufactured according to the method explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6C.

Operation of the head suspension 81 will be explained with reference to FIG. 11 that is a sectional view taken along a line XI-XI of FIG. 8.

In FIG. 11, the piezoelectric actuator 85 has the non-electrode part 51 in each of the peripheral zones 91 a 1 and 91 b 1 defined on the lower and upper electrode forming faces 91 a and 91 b that need a short-circuit preventive measure.

Even if the piezoelectric element 83 is obliquely installed close to an inner side face 88 a of the opening 88 so that the peripheral zones 91 a 1 and 91 b 1 of the piezoelectric element 83 touch the support 89 a or the inner side face 88 a as illustrated in FIG. 11, the non-electrode part 51 in each of the peripheral zones 91 a 1 and 91 b 1 prevents a short circuit between the electrodes 93 a, 93 b 1, and 93 b 2 of the piezoelectric element 83 and the actuator base (attaching part) 86 (including the opening 88 and supports 89 a and 89 b) of the head suspension 81.

In this way, the piezoelectric element 83 can be attached to the actuator base (attaching part) 86 of the head suspension 81 without causing a short circuit between the electrodes 93 a, 93 b 1, and 93 b 2 of the piezoelectric element 83 and the attaching part 86.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and is modifiable within the gist and technical idea stipulated and suggested in the claims and specification. Electrode structures of piezoelectric elements, methods of forming electrodes of piezoelectric elements, piezoelectric actuators, and head suspensions based on such modifications also fall in the scope of the present invention.

For example, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hinge member 17 is laid on the back of the base plate 13, to form the supports 17 a 1 and 17 b 1. This configuration does not limit the present invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, it is possible to process the actuator base 86 fixed to the front end of the base plate 84 into the supports 89 a and 89 b. The actuator base 86 may be integral with the base plate 84.

According to the above-mentioned embodiments, the piezoelectric actuator 19 (85) is arranged between the base plate 13 (84) and the load beam 15. The present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, in a head moving mechanism in which a head suspension is fixed to a carriage arm that is turned to move a magnetic head attached to a slider of the head suspension, the piezoelectric actuator according to the present invention may be arranged at a proper position to minutely move any one of the head suspension, slider, and magnetic head. 

1. A method of forming an electrode of a piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric element having a pair of electrode forming faces and being used to constitute a piezoelectric actuator arranged on an object to minutely move a movable part of the object relative to a base part of the object according to deformation occurring on the piezoelectric element in response to a power applied state of the piezoelectric element, the method comprising: forming an electrode on one of the electrode forming faces; and forming a non-electrode part in a peripheral zone, the peripheral zone being defined along the periphery of the electrode forming face on which the electrode is formed.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the electrode is formed by a technique selected from the group consisting of vapor deposition, spattering, and plating.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein: the non-electrode part is formed by masking the peripheral zone of the electrode forming face when forming the electrode on the electrode forming face.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein: the non-electrode part is formed by etching off the electrode in the peripheral zone of the electrode forming face.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein: the non-electrode part is formed by grinding off the electrode in the peripheral zone of the electrode forming face.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein: grinding off the electrode in the peripheral zone of the electrode forming face is carried out with a disk-shaped dicing blade when cutting a wafer with the dicing blade into the piezoelectric element; the dicing blade has an oblique cutting face at least on one side of a thickness center of the dicing blade; and the non-electrode part is formed by the oblique cutting face when the piezoelectric element is cut from the wafer with the use of the dicing blade.
 7. A method of forming an electrode of a piezoelectric element used for a head suspension by means of the method of claim 1, the head suspension has a base plate, a load beam, a hinge member through which the load beam is longitudinally attached to the base plate along a longitudinal direction of the base, a flexure attached to the load beam to support a magnetic head, an opening formed through the base plate between a base part and a front part of the base plate in a longitudinal direction of the load beam, the hinge member longitudinally protruding into the opening and forming front and rear supports at respective front and rear ends of the opening that extend throughout a bottom portion of the opening, the piezoelectric element disposed in the opening and having front and rear portions thereof respectively attached to the front and rear supports at the respective front and rear ends of the opening by a nonconductive adhesive so that the piezoelectric element minutely moves the magnetic head relative to and in a widthwise direction of the head suspension according to deformation occurring on the piezoelectric element in response to power being applied to the piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric element comprising upper and lower electrodes for applying the power at respective upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric element the lower electrode of the piezoelectric element comprising a peripheral edge disposed inwardly and away from a peripheral edge of the piezoelectric element so as to define a non-electrode portion along the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the piezoelectric element, the lower electrode being connected to a terminal of the flexure, and the peripheral edge of the lower electrode and the non-electrode portion being fixed to the front and rear supports through the nonconductive adhesive at the front and rear portions of the piezoelectric element, wherein the electrode is formed on the upper and lower surfaces by a technique selected from the group consisting of vapor deposition, spattering, and plating, and the non-electrode portion is formed on a peripheral zone of the lower surface or each of the upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric element by masking the peripheral zone when forming the electrode on the lower surface or each of the upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric element by vapor deposition, spattering, or plating. 